Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02690059 2015-05-13
TOLL SERVICE METHOD AND SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present disclosure is generally related to toll billing and, more
specifically,
to a method, system, and computer readable medium for unlimited toll
utilization.
[0003] A toll road is a road on which a toll authority collects a fee for use
o\f the toll
road. There are an increasing number of toll roads having different toll
payment systems.
For example, some systems use a radio transponder mounted in or on a
customer's vehicle to
deduct toll fares from a pre-paid account as the vehicle passes through a toll
barrier. This
reduces manpower at tollbooths and increases traffic flow and fuel efficiency
by reducing the
need for vehicles to make complete stops to pay tolls.
[0004] Various problems and limitations exist with respect to current toll
billing
models especially for vehicles that are a part of a fleet. Such a fleet may
number hundreds or
thousands of vehicles and fleet owners do not currently have an ability to
exert control over
an amount of billing and how that billing is incurred by the fleet as a whole.
As such, what is
needed is a method, system, and computer readable medium that overcomes these
problems
and limitations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention includes a number of entities such as a Third
Party
Entity (TPE), a Toll Rental Entity (TRE), and a Toll Authority (TA) that will
be described
below.
[0006] Third Party Entity (TPE) - The TPE is typically the rental car agency,
however
in some circumstances it could be a user of a rental agency vehicle or a fleet
vehicle for a
university, a trucking company or another fleet vehicle entity.
[0007] Toll Rental Entity (TRE) - The TRE is typically a provider of toll
rental
services to a third party operated vehicle renter, however in some
circumstances it could be a
provider of toll rental services to a vehicle owner, to the TPE, and to the
TA.
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[0008] Toll Authority (TA) - Toll authorities are government, quasi-government
or
private entities that are legally authorized to collect tolls. These entities
are required by law
to use the collected tolls to build and maintain the roads for which the tolls
are collected.
[0009] The present invention allows a TRE to charge a flat subscription price
to
utilize toll services for fleet vehicles. A single price is charged per
vehicle in the fleet and
will cover any and all tolls accumulated for that vehicle during a period of
time.
[0010] In one embodiment of the disclosure, a method for unlimited toll
utilization by
a transport in a fleet comprises receiving, by a toll rental entity, fleet
information from a third
party entity, receiving, by a toll authority, the fleet information from the
toll rental entity,
receiving, by the toll authority, toll usage information, matching, by the
toll authority, the toll
usage information with the fleet information, receiving, by the toll rental
entity, the matched
information, matching, by the toll rental entity, the matched information with
a fleet
subscription account, paying a fee, by the toll rental entity to the toll
authority, based on the
matched information with the fleet subscription account, and billing, by the
toll rental entity,
the third party entity, a fixed fee for each transport in the fleet, wherein
the fixed fee is related
to the paid fee.
[0011] In another embodiment of the disclosure, a computer readable medium
comprises instructions for billing, by a toll rental entity, a fixed fee for
unlimited toll usage
by a transport, based on at least one of: a transport toll volume and a toll
transaction volume.
[0012] In a further embodiment of the disclosure, a system for billing
unlimited toll
utilization comprises at least one third party entity, and a toll rental
entity communicably
coupled to the third party entity,. wherein the toll rental entity bills the
third party entity a
based on at least one of: a number of transports in a fleet, a number of
transactions by the
transports in the fleet; and a fixed fee.
[0012A] According to a further embodiment, there is provided a method for
providing
toll service to a plurality vehicles operated by a third-party entity. The
method includes
transmitting, by a computer associated with a third party entity to a computer
associated with
a toll-rental entity, a fleet size and fleet information for a plurality
vehicles operated by the
third-party entity, the fleet information identifying each of the plurality of
vehicles to be
enrolled for a toll service for a pre-defined duration; enrolling, by the
computer processor
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associated with the toll-rental entity, each said vehicle of the plurality
vehicles operated by
the third-party entity for the toll service, the computer processor associated
with the toll-
rental entity sending information identifying enrolled vehicles to a computer
associated with
the toll authority whereby the information is stored in a fleet database
associated with the toll
authority, and whereby the enrolled vehicles can utilize the toll authority
for the pre-defined
duration without a need to pay for individual toll charges; receiving, by the
computer
associated with the toll authority, toll transaction data from a plurality of
toll plaza devices
for a plurality of individual toll transactions, the received toll transaction
data including at
least one vehicle identifier gathered electronically by the toll plaza device;
determining, by
the computer associated with the toll authority, whether each of the received
toll transaction
data matches information in the fleet database identifying enrolled vehicles,
determining by
the computer associated with the toll authority, a toll usage frequency based
on toll
transaction data matching information identifying enrolled vehicles, and
transmitting, by the
computer associated with the toll authority, the toll usage frequency to the
computer
associated with the toll-rental entity; determining, by the computer processor
associated with
the toll-rental entity, a toll-subscription fee for each vehicle of the
plurality vehicles operated
by the third-party entity for the pre-defined duration, wherein the toll-
subscription fee is
based on the received fleet size and the received toll usage frequency;
charging the third-
party entity by the computer processor associated with the toll-rental entity,
the toll-
subscription fee for each said vehicle of the plurality vehicles irrespective
of whether each
said vehicle of the plurality of vehicles has been rented during the pre-
defined duration;
receiving, by the computer processor associated with the toll-rental entity, a
payment
corresponding to the toll-subscription fee for each said vehicle of the
plurality vehicles
operated by the third-party entity; and forwarding, by the computer processor
associated with
the toll-rental entity to the toll authority, a reimbursement for individual
toll transactions
incurred by the enrolled vehicles operated by the third-party entity; wherein
the forwarding
and receiving of data between the computer associated with the toll authority
computer, the
computer associated with the third-party entity, and the computer associated
with the toll-
rental entity computer are carried out over one or more communications
networks.
10012B] According to a further embodiment, there is provided a system for
providing
a toll service to a plurality vehicles operated by a third-party entity. The
system includes a
toll-rental entity computcr, a third party entity computer, a toll authority
computer, and a toll
authority fleet database, wherein the third party entity computer is
configured to transmit to
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the toll-rental entity computer, a fleet size and fleet information for a
plurality vehicles
operated by the third-party entity, the fleet information identifying each of
the plurality of
vehicles to be enrolled for a toll service for a pre-defined duration; wherein
the toll-rental
entity computer is configured to enroll each said vehicle of the plurality
vehicles operated by
the third-party entity for the toll service by sending information identifying
enrolled vehicles
to the toll authority computer whereby the enrolled vehicles can utilize the
toll authority for
the pre-defined duration without a need to pay for individual toll charges;
wherein the toll
authority computer is configured to receive toll transaction data from a
plurality of toll plaza
devices for a plurality of individual toll transactions, the received toll
transaction data
including at least one vehicle identifier gathered electronically by the toll
plaza device,
determine whether each of the received toll transaction data matches
information in the fleet
database identifying enrolled vehicles, determine a toll usage frequency based
on toll
transaction data matching information identifying enrolled vehicles, and
transmit to the toll
authority computer, the toll usage frequency; wherein the toll-rental entity
computer is
configured to charge the third-party entity computer a toll-subscription fee
for each said
vehicle of the plurality of vehicles irrespective of whether each said vehicle
of the plurality of
vehicles has been rented during the pre-defined duration, wherein the toll-
subscription fee is
based on the received fleet size and the received toll usage frequency;
wherein the toll-rental
entity computer is configured to receive a payment corresponding to the toll-
subscription fee
for each said vehicle of the plurality of vehicles operated by the third-party
entity; wherein
the toll-rental entity computer is configured to forward to the toll authority
computer, a
reimbursement for individual toll transactions incurred by the plurality of
vehicles operated
by the third-party entity; and wherein the toll authority computer, the third-
party entity
computer and the toll-rental entity computer are configured to send and
receive data over one
or more communications networks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Figure 1 illustrates a first flow chart for unlimited toll utilization
according to
an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0014] Figure 2 illustrates an invoicing model according to an embodiment of
the
disclosure;
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[0015] Figure 3 illustrates a second flow chart for unlimited toll utilization
according
to an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0016] Figure 4 illustrates a third flow chart for unlimited toll utilization
according to
an embodiment of the disclosure; and
[0017] Figure 5 illustrates a system for unlimited toll utilization according
to an
embodiment of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The present invention provides a TRE with an ability to charge a flat
price
(that can be subscription based) to utilize toll services for fleet transports
(which include
vehicles, buses, motorcycles, trains, planes, boats, and the like). A single
price is charged per
vehicle in the fleet and will cover any and all tolls accumulated for that
vehicle during a
period of time. Such a period of time is typically a monthly based
subscription, however the
subscription could be hourly, daily, weekly, quarterly, annually, or any other
time period.
The charge is based on at least one of: fleet size and toll facility usage
rates. Higher
utilization rates will require a higher subscription price to be charged. The
subscription rate
would be charged whether or not a vehicle utilized tolls during any given
day/period and the
rate provides unlimited toll road coverage to a specific vehicle(s) for a
certain period of time.
[0019] According to the present invention, all toll costs are included in the
simple fee.
For example, a vehicle may be rented for 30 days during a month. The
subscription model
would charge a daily (or weekly) fee for that vehicle and every other vehicle
in the fleet. The
vehicle may only use tolls on 10 days of the month (33% utilization rate),
however the
vehicle fleet owner will pay the fee for all 30 days in the month. In this
model, the pricing of
the service to the vehicle user/renter is left to the discretion of the fleet
vehicle owner who
may charge a daily amount (such as $5 per day) or who may include the service
for free for
any vehicle of a certain class (such as for vehicles of a premium class). The
fleet vehicle
owner is only responsible to pay the TRE the simple fee for the particular
period of time.
The TRE will register that vehicle with the TA and guarantee payment for every
toll fee
encountered for that vehicle. This model leaves discretionary pricing to the
fleet vehicle
owner and minimizes the daily costs to any given driver. In certain
situations, some drivers
or vehicles may pay a fee for the sen ice even though they did not use any
tolls.
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. -
[0020] The present invention has several benefits because it spreads the cost
of tolls
over every vehicle and every rental contract. Thus, the direct cost to a
customer who uses
tolls is minimal (for example, $.25 to $1.50 per day). Other models only
charge for users
that utilize a toll service with costs ranging from $1.50 or more per day plus
tolls to fixed rate
charges of $8.95 or more per day. Although there is a cost to every vehicle
renter with the
present invention, a fleet owner has the ability to not pass the cost on to
every driver of a
vehicle belonging to the fleet and only charge renters who actually use the
service. Pricing is
flexible for the fleet vehicle owner based on how they want to provide the
service and
bencfits to their customers.
[0021] The benefit of the present invention to the TA is that every toll is
guaranteed.
Thc benefit to the TPE is the flexibility in how they price the service and
that they will never
encounter a single violation for any customer (in markets where it is
offered). The benefit to
the renter is the low cost that is assigned to utilize the service. In
addition, all billing for the
service can be included in a rental contract between the customer and the TPE
or between
two or more of the entities or customers/renters described above. Renters can
also receive
express lane access at a minimal cost. The service provides more flexibility
to the fleet
vehicle owner and eliminates all violation costs to the flect vehicle owner,
thereby driving
down operational costs to collect on violators.
[0022] Referring now to FIG. 1, a first flow chart 100 of the present
invention
includes a TPE 110, a TRE 112, and a TA 114. One or more of the functions or
steps
described below may be performed by one or more of these entities 110-114 and
more than
one of these entities may be utilized with the present invention. The Third
Party Entity 110
requests toll subscription service to the Toll Rental Entity 112, which
creates a subscription
account for third party entity 122. The Third Party Entity 110 periodically
sends the fleet
information to the Toll Rental Entity, for example, via File Transfer
Protocol, web services,
email, or other mechanism 124. The Third Party Entity 110 might choose their
own
communication protocol to send or receive fleet information. Depending upon
the underlying
fleet identification method some additional information might be sent from
Third Party Entity
110. For example, the TPE 110 might send license plate and state information
if a license
plate reader mechanism is used or the TPE might send vehicle information
(utilizing GPS,
RFID, or other mechanism) to the TRE.
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[0023] The Toll Rental Entity 112 updates a fleet database 127 with the
received
information from the Third Party Entity at step 126. The Toll Rental Entity
112 sends fleet
information to the Toll Authority at step 128. The TRE can use various
protocols to transfer
the information to the Toll Authority 114 which updates the fleet database 130
whenever it
receives the update from Toll Rental Entity. When a third party vehicle renter
uses a toll road,
the Toll Authority 114 receives the toll usage information from the toll plaza
or toll lane 140,
based on a vehicle identification method, the TA 114 checks the vehicle in a
fleet database
131 based on a vehicle identifier, and if the vehicle information is not found
in the fleet
database at the TA, then the TA continues with their existing process of
handling such a
situation. If the Toll Authority 114 finds the vehicles in the database, then
the TA sends the
matched toll usage to the toll rental entity with vehicle information and/or
with toll usage
information such as time stamp, location, charge, and the like 142. The TRE
112 updates the
received toll usage from the TA 114 in the toll usage database 144 and pays
the TA for the
toll usage immediately or periodically 160. The Toll Rental Entity 112 checks
148 if the
vehicle is in the database. If the vehicle is not found, the TRE sends the
response back to the
Toll Authority at step 150. If the vehicle is found in the database, the Toll
Rental Entity 112
sends the toll usage to the TPE 110 periodically 162. The Toll Rental Entity
112 receives
payment from the TPE 110 periodically for the toll subscription service 164.
The transfer of
information occurs via at least one of: a wireless protocol, a wired protocol
and a
combination of the wireless protocol and the wired protocol. The information
may be sent via
at least one of: text, data, voice, and video. The steps in the flow chart are
performed by
software, hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware,
and/or
firmware.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 2, a second flow chart 200 of the present
invention is
depicted. A TPE can be invoiced 212 based on at least one of: vehicle
subscription,
transaction subscription and fixed fee. In the vehicle subscription model 214
is used, the TPE
pays a TRE by vehicle count 216 based on a calculated billing period 218. In
the transaction
subscription model 240, the TPE pays the TRE by a number of transactions 242.
In the third
model, the TPE pays the TRE a fixed fee 260 for a billing period or any other
period which
may be measured in terms of hours, days, weeks, months or years 218. The
transfer of
information occurs via at least one of: a wireless protocol, a wired protocol
and a
CA 02690059 2015-05-13
combination of the wireless protocol and the wired protocol. The information
may be sent via
at least one of: text, data, voice, and video. The steps in the flow are
performed by software,
hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware, and/or
firmware.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 3, a flow chart 300 describing a method for
unlimited
toll utilization by a transport in a fleet of the present invention is
depicted. A TRE receives
fleet information from a TPE 310. A TA receives the toll usage from a toll
plaza or toll lanes
if the renter uses a toll road 312. The TA matches toll usage against received
fleet
information from the TRE 314 and the TA sends the matched toll usage to the
TRE 316. The
TRE pays the TA for the matched toll usage 318 and bills the TPE for the toll
service 320.
The TPE pays the TRE periodically (or in some other timeframe) 322.
[0026] In the method of the present invention, the fixed fee may be fixed
across all
markets, or may vary based on at least one of: a location of each of the
transports in the fleet,
a number of transports in the fleet, a length of use of each transport in the
fleet, a time of day
of the use of each transport in the fleet, a length of a contract for each
transport in the fleet, a
toll usage of each of the transports in the fleet, a day of the use of each
transport in the fleet, a
week of the use of each transport in !lie fleet, a month of the use of each
transport in the fleet,
a year of the use of each transport in the fleet, an age of each of the
transports in the fleet, an
emissions rate of each of the transports in the fleet, an emissions output of
each of the
transports in the fleet, and an average mile per gallon rating of each of the
transports in the
fleet. The fixed fee is sent once per period and covers an unlimited number of
toll
transactions for the period, wherein the period is at least one of: a second,
a minute, an hour,
a day, a week, a month and a year.
[0027] In the method of the present invention, the number of toll transaction
is at least
one of: zero toll transactions and one or more toll transactions, wherein if
the toll usage
information is not matched to the fleet information, sending a violation by
the toll authority,
wherein the receiving occurs in at least one of: real time, near real time and
periodically,
wherein the fleet information for each transport includes at least one of: an
owner of the
transport, a license plate number of the transport, a vehicle identification
number of the
transport, a type of the transport, a color of the transport, a manufacturer
of the transport, a
year of manufacture of the transport and a condition of the transport. The
transfer of
information in the method occurs via at least one of: a wireless protocol, a
wired protocol and
a combination of the wireless protocol and the wired protocol. The information
may be sent
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CA 02690059 2015-05-13
via at least one of: text, data, voice, and video. The steps in the flow are
performed by
software, hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware,
and/or
firmware.
[0028] Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart describing unfound toll usage 400
is
depicted. The Toll Authority sends the matched toll usage to the TRE at step
414 which
updates a toll usage database at step 416. The TRE attempts to match the toll
usage with the
fleet database at step 418. If the fleet does not matches the toll usage then
toll rental entity
sends the unmatched or unfound information to the TA at step 422 which retries
the
unmatched toll usage for a specific number of retries for a short period of
time (for example,
15 days) 424. This helps the TRE to receive any pending fleet updates from the
TPE if there
is any communication delay. The TA stops sending the unmatched toll usage
information if
the number of retry exceeds the planned/agreed interval or the TPE matches the
information
with the fleet, and the TA continues with its existing processes at step 426.
The transfer of
information occurs via at least one of: a wireless protocol, a wired protocol
and a
combination of the wireless protocol and the wired protocol. The information
may be sent via
at least one of: text, data, voice, and video. The steps in the flow are
performed by software,
hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware, and/or
firmware.
[0029] Referring now to FIG. 5, a system or architecture 500 of the present
invention
is depicted. The system or architecture 500, which is preferably a part of a
TRE 504 or
under the full or partial control of the TRE, depicts various communications
components. A
communication layer 510 implements communication channels such as File
Transfer
Protocol, web services, EDI, email including a security mechanism such as
Secure Socket
Layer to send and receive information between the TPE 502, the TA 506 and/or
another
entity (not shown). A subscription product package layer 512 offers volume
subscriptions,
transaction subscriptions fixed fee subscriptions and licensing. Fleet
transactions, toll usage
transactions, invoicing transactions and opt-out transactions are implemented
under a
transaction layer 514. The TPE 502 and the TA 506 communicate via the
communication
layer 510. The transfer of information occurs via at least one of: a wireless
protocol, a wired
protocol and a combination of the wireless protocol and the wired protocol.
The information
may be sent via at least one of: text, data, voice, and video. The steps in
the flow are
performed by software, hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software,
hardware,
and/or firmware.
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[0030] In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable
medium
(or software running or able to be run on at least one of the entities
described above)
comprises instructions for billing, by a toll rental entity, a fixed fee for
unlimited toll usage
by a transport, based on at least one of: a transport toll volume and a toll
transaction volume,
wherein each transport is at least one of: an independently owned transport
and a transport in
a fleet. The computer readable medium comprises instructions for receiving, by
the toll
rental entity, toll usage information and transport information, comprises
instructions for
matching, by the toll rental entity, the received information with a transport
subscription
account, comprising instructions for billing the fixed fee amount based on the
matching,
comprising instructions for billing the fixed fee to at least one of: a third
party entity and a
toll authority, wherein the fixed fee may vary based on at least one of: a
location of each of
the transports in the fleet, a number of transports in the fleet, a length of
use of each transport
in the fleet, a time of day of the use of each transport in the fleet, a day
of the use of each
transport in the fleet, a week of the use of each transport in the fleet, a
month of the use of
each transport in the fleet, a year of the use of each transport in the fleet,
a length of a
contract for each transport in the fleet, a toll usage of each of the
transports in the fleet, an
age of each of the transports in the fleet, an emissions rate of each of the
transports in the
fleet, an emissions output of each of the transports in the fleet and an
average mile per gallon
rating of each of the transports in the leet.
[0031] In a further embodiment of the present invention, a system for billing
unlimited toll utilization comprises at least one third party entity and a
toll rental entity
communicably coupled to the third party entity, wherein the toll rental entity
bills the third
party entity a based on at least one of: a number of transports in a fleet, a
number of
transactions by the transports in the fleet and a fixed fee, wherein the toll
rental entity bills
based on an alternating fixed fee, wherein, if the toll rental entity bills
based on a number of
transports in a fleet, the toll rental entity bills based on at least one of:
a mean of a size of a
fleet and a median of the size of the fleet, wherein, if the toll rental
entity bills based on a
number of transactions by the transports in the fleet, the toll rental entity
bills based on a
transaction volume, wherein the toll rental entity bills the third party
entity a based on at least
one of: a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month and a year.
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[0032] The present invention allows for fixed rate pricing to be charged to
fleet
vehicle owners for every subscribed or registered vehicle (or for a portion of
vehicles). The
present processes monthly fees to the vehicle fleet owner and allows the
vehicle fleet owner
to control and influence pricing. The present invention can also track
violators for the fleet
vehicle owner. Their payment to the toll service provider will be a fixed fee
based on at least
one of: the market location, the location of vehicles, and the usage rates of
tolls in the system
by renters. The present invention will identify which contracts selected the
service and which
"opt-outs" used tolls without proper authorization through their rental
contract. In one
embodiment, the current invention charges every vehicle renter regardless of
whether they
used a toll road. In this manner, the cost for toll users is dramatically
lowered. The cost is
spread across every vehicle in the fleet and thus the cost to the rental
company is minimal.
The rental company then has the option to price the service to customers at a
very low daily
rate. This will help to drive new renters to access toll roads and reduce
congestion within the
region. The rental agency has flexibility to give the service away to its
premium users,
charge a flat daily rate or even roll the cost directly into the price of the
vehicle and provide
the renter with unlimited access to toll road usage. A toll service provider
charges a flat fee
per vehicle per day and then pays all tolls for that related vehicle when
incurred. Future
applications can be applied on a national level with or without a rental car.
It could be
packaged as a service with every new vehicle in the form of a government tax
based on
where the vehicle was purchased.
[0033] Although an exemplary embodiment of the system of the embodiment of the
disclosure has been illustrated in the accompanied drawings and described in
the foregoing
detailed description, it will be understood that the embodiment of the
disclosure is not limited
to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements,
modifications, and
substitutions. For example, the capabilities of the embodiment of the
disclosure can be
performed fully and/or partially by one or more of the entities. Also, these
capabilities may
be performed in the current manner or in a distributed manner and on, or via,
any device able
to provide and/or receive information. Further, although depicted in a
particular manner,
various modules or blocks may be repositioned without departing from the scope
of the
current embodiment of the disclosure. Still further, although depicted in a
particular manner,
a greater or lesser number of modules and connections can be utilized with the
embodiment
of the disclosure in order to accomplish the embodiment of the disclosure, to
provide
additional known features to the embodiment of the disclosure, and/or to make
the
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CA 02690059 2015-05-13
embodiment of the disclosure more efficient. Also, the information sent
between various
modules can be sent between the modules via at least one of a data network,
the Internet, an
Internet Protocol network, a wireless source, and a wired source and via
plurality of
protocols.
=
